ScoutFleet 2002 is now history. Sea Scout Ship 25 - SSS YORKSHIRE, of the York-Adams Area Council, BSA, with its HQ in
Emigsville, PA was a full participant in the ScoutFleet 2002 celebration and
undertook its special Communications
Information Center (CIC) mission for her
sister ships of the Chesapeake Flotilla Wardroom.
Very little, if anything, however, went as originally planned. Do to
mechanical difficulties, our vessel Willit Run?? didn't, so we drove from our
Sea Base in Emigsville, PA to Staten Island.

There we were befriended by the skipper and crew of Sea Scout
Ship ADAM HYLER, a 65' diesel engine former US Army tug boat. As supernumerary
crew aboard HYLER, we stood watches and sailed from New York's Lower Bay
under the Verazanno Narrows Bridge up to the INTREPID pier on 26 July. The
next day, ScoutFleet Day, the HYLER was the marshal for the "Parade of
Small Ships" from the INTREPID around the Statue of Liberty and
return. We manned the rail, and rendered honors as we passed the site of
the former World Trade Center twin towers. ScoutFleet afternoon included a
ceremony onboard the hanger deck of INTREPID celebrating the 90th anniversary of
Sea Scouting in the U.S.A. Our skipper then gave us a "behind the
scenes" tour of USS EDSON (DD-946), which had been his ship during the Viet
Nam war. We saw parts of EDSON the public never gets to see.
ScoutFleet evening consisted of dancing on the INTREPID pier, and making new
friends from the many other ships in attendance. In all about 400 Sea
Scouts and Scouters from 41 ships in 14 states (including Texas) participated in
ScoutFleet.

On Sunday morning, 28 July, we helped crew the HYLER back to
Staten Island and give her a fresh water washdown and a clean sweep fore and
after before departing. We spent the rest of our ScoutFleet long cruise
week in the Adirondacks at our skipper's camp on Limekiln Lake in Hamilton
County, Town of Inlet, New York. We did canoeing, kayaking, guideboating,
loon spotting, swimming, water skiing, and anything else nautical we could think
of. We toured Big Moose Lake in a 1955 mahogany Chris*Craft work
boat. We went horseback riding. We took the chairlift to the top of
McCauley Mountain for a bird's eye view of the Adirondacks. We toured the
Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake. We toured and enjoyed a buffet
dinner at Great Camp Sagamore, and we went to a square dance in a barn. We
took a ride into the wilderness onboard the Adirondack Railway. Our final
night included attending Durant Days at Raquette Lake with a band concert,
fireworks, and a moonlight cruise around Raquette Lake on a steamboat. The
steamboat's Captain even asked one of our Sea Scouts to help steer. Not
bad for a trip when nothing went as originally planned. We returned to the
Sea Base in Emigsville on 4 August.

As a bonus, we have now been asked to go back to Staten
Island and help the crew of Sea Scout Ship SEA EAGLE bring SEA EAGLE back to the
Chesapeake. She was disabled leaving New York on ScoutFleet Sunday, and
repairs have just now been completed. So.... It looks like we'll still get to
cruise the Jersey shore, the Delaware Bay, the Chesapeake, and the
Potomac. Good things just keep happening.

The link, http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/track.cgi?call=W3FJD-8+++++
was originally set up so you could see the current location of Ship 25's Sea Scout Training Vessel, SSTV Willit Run??.
This link also gave you the option to view a topo map of the
surrounding area. The on-board APRS system (Automatic Position
Reporting System) worked flawlessly. The reason why most viewers
thought is wasn't working was they always saw our position as Bush River,
MD. Unfortunately, that was very accurate. Except for a brief visit
to Annapolis, WILLIT RUN?? spent the entirety of ScoutFleet at her home port of
Bush River, MD. So..... The APRS was working. WILLIT wasn't.

CIC REPORT

We originally were supposed to act as the CIC Ship for the
Chesapeake ScoutFleet. We envisioned that would be done by twice-daily VHF
marine radio reports from each participating vessel. Since WILLIT RUN??
didn't, our skipper had to coordinate all reports by cell phone. We
"got the message through", but we can't wait to see what the skipper's
cell phone bill is going to be this month!!!